canada.com » Josh Hutchersonhttp://o.canada.com
Canada's great, shareable storiesTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:38:07 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/15edae77ebfa450ee5bb897103fdef31?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » Josh Hutchersonhttp://o.canada.com
Benicio Del Toro brings Pablo Escobar back to life, and deathhttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/benicio-del-toro-brings-pablo-escobar-back-to-life-and-death
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/benicio-del-toro-brings-pablo-escobar-back-to-life-and-death#commentsThu, 15 Jan 2015 19:19:16 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=578386]]>He hit his highest highs back in the 1980s when Forbes Magazine ranked him one of the 10 richest men in the world, but Pablo Escobar was always more than just another drug lord with a machine gun and a mountain of cocaine.

A family man who boasted about his many good deeds, Escobar was also a lover of animals, a community service worker who created jobs and infrastructure for the indigent, and a visionary businessman who founded the new model for drug cartels around the globe at the business end of an Uzi.

“He was responsible for 90 per cent of the cocaine imports into the United States during the 1980s, creating a fortune worth more than $30 billion — most of it being in cash,” says Andrea Di Stefano, the director-writer behind the new movie Escobar: Paradise Lost.

Though based on facts and real-life testimony from those who knew the self-made Colombian tycoon, Di Stefano is quick to point out his film isn’t pure biopic. He admits to using a certain amount of creative licence to script the dialogue, as well as to craft the dramatic arc, because many of Escobar’s closest friends are dead — killed by his own hand, or by the many henchmen hired for the daily round of assassinations.

“Escobar asked people to do things for him as a friend,” Di Stefano says. “And they would, but then he would kill them to protect himself and his secrets. So I knew that was my entry door into the story — this kid who was taken into his inner circle, then hunted down.”

Escobar: Paradise Lost [vvsfilmsmedia.ca]

It would be a cat-and-mouse story with underpinnings of Greek tragedy, and Di Stefano — an actor himself — knew he wanted Josh Hutcherson as the sweet rodent and Benicio Del Toro as the stalking black cat.

Di Stefano says Del Toro has a menacing screen presence as well as a family man side, and Hutcherson embodied the necessary vulnerability and innocence required to play the role of Nick — a nice Canadian guy who goes to Latin America seeking adventure, only to end up the whipping boy of America’s most wanted drug trafficker.

Di Stefano says Nick was an Irish character at first, but every time he met Canadians abroad, he sensed their difference. “There’s a warmth to Canadians as well as intelligence. It’s like there’s another gear,” he says, “and I needed that for the contrast.”

Indeed, watching Hutcherson and Del Toro dance the drug-money tango is a bit like watching any seduction where evil wins the night and goodness wins the dawn. And for Del Toro, that was half the fun.

“Pablo sucked a lot of people into his web because he was hugely successful. He was rich. He had power. He knew how to make friends. But this is not a documentary,” Del Toro says.

Escobar: Paradise Lost. [vvsfilmsmedia.ca]

“I mean, Pablo didn’t even speak English. And Josh’s character isn’t from real life, but we need Josh as the door to the story because he represents many of the people who will watch this movie.”

Del Toro says young men are often drawn to characters like Escobar because they embody a sense of mystery and adventure, not to mention limitless power and access to beautiful women.

“Go to any T-shirt shop in Los Angeles and you’ll see a picture of Al Pacino as Scarface. People like Scarface because of the attitude. I don’t think it’s because he killed a lot of people. I think it’s because guys like him, guys like Escobar, they say ‘Eff it.’ They don’t care what society really thinks about them — and that can be liberating.”

Del Toro says he watched all the documentary and news footage that was available before he started shooting, but he wasn’t looking to impersonate the storied criminal.

“Eventually you have to throw all the research out and just be a character in the movie — be likable and pull the viewer in — because this is really a Greek tragedy about a young man seduced by the dark side. It’s every movie from Star Wars to any western, and I am proud that we made it our own.”

Keanu Reeves is back wearing black and driving like there’s no tomorrow while Tom Cruise takes us to the Edge of Tomorrow over and over again. Seth Rogen goes topless and there’s nothing we can do about it, and Cameron Diaz makes a tape for the R-rated in all of us. Steve Carell gets ‘nosy,’ and Chris Pine turns out to be charming in a smarmy way.

Scarlett Johansson offers health-care tips even as the X-Men get all slo-mo around the same time Jon Favreau is cooking up some cheesy fun.

Welcome to the lowdown on the 2014 movie scenes and sequences, moments, episodes and views that caught my attention:

— Even if 22 Jump Street’s self-involved wackiness isn’t for you, the end credits promoting more Jump Street flicks in the franchise is worth the price of admission — 41 Jump Street Magic School is a personal favourite.

— Best line of the year is from Into the Woods: Chris Pine as Prince Charming tells a jilted Cinderella, “I was raised to be charming, not sincere,” before riding off on his white steed.

— Keanu Reeves does most of the stunt driving in the martial arts revenge flick John Wick. It’s impressive wheel work. Reeves calls it “car-Fu”. Whoa!

— The nose knows. Steve Carell wears a prosthetic nose in Foxcatcher. He looks like he’s balancing an imaginary porcelain tea cup on the end of it, but he’ll be Oscar nominated.

— Best jogging sequence: The Captain America sequel runs away with it. In the opener of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chris Evans, as the captain, laps Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) soon to be Falcon. It is witty in concept and presentation.

— The MacGyver plaque for using common items as tools of destruction: And the winner is Denzel Washington in The Equalizer who transforms a corkscrew from a big-box store into a penetration device that blasts through a criminal’s jaw.

— Sex Tape: A film that proves shooting sex positions doesn’t sell, after all, no matter how much of an almost-nude Cameron Diaz is revealed.

Jason Segel, left, and Cameron Diaz in Sex Tape

— Jeff Bridges gets a haircut and some thoughtful dialogue to help him become The Giver, inspiring Big Lebowski fans to stay away in droves.

— In Chef (Jon Favreau), the culinary whiz makes a grilled cheese sandwich deluxe in a sequence worthy of the Food Network, with pickles optional.

— The loudest monster bellow belongs to Godzilla, although Mel Gibson gives it his all as the bad guy in The Expendables 3.

— Edge of Tomorrow features Tom Cruise running (it’s in his contract) but this time he’s wearing a Transformers-like weapons outfit. Oh, Tom.

— Neighbors shows off the best topless bits when a bare-chested Seth Rogen says hello to a topless former rival, Zac Efron, who is working the front of a clothing story.

— X-Men: Days of Future Past features the best slow-motion kitchen scene mostly because it had no competition — unless you include some of the moments in Tammy.

— Most convincing group-acting: Manhattan’s Times Square extras in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 except for that one kid looking at the camera. Oops.

— Besides another great box-office performance, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 has the most outstanding freak-out scene. Accepting the award is Josh Hutcherson who plays Peeta [near the conclusion] like he just took the brown acid from Woodstock.

— Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) provides a guide to jumping the line for life-saving surgery. Note: It requires super brain power and an automatic weapon. A willingness to assassinate operating-table patient may be necessary.

The people, united, will never be defeated — unless, of course, they’re living in a world governed by fear, envy, greed and perpetual backstabbing in the name of personal ambition and progress.

Ego kills revolutions faster than tear gas and riot squads because it’s about “me,” not “we.”

And it’s here, in this reflection of our current reality, that we rejoin Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) on her trail-blazing odyssey of liberation.

After another successful turn in the Hunger Games — an annual spectacle of survivalist skills designed to distract, entertain and appease the blood lust of a mentally enslaved population — Katniss has been recruited to join the ranks of District 13, a dissenting rebel group living underground.

Led by Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), the people of District 13 are ready to rise up against President Snow (Donald Sutherland), but they will be wiped out if they go it alone.

All the districts need to join forces if they are going to topple the power elite living in The Capitol, but everyone is too afraid to stick out their necks.

Liam Hemsworth, left, and Jennifer Lawrence

The government has kill squads roaming the post-apocalyptic landscape in search of traitors. When the people of District 12, Katniss’s homeland, defied the power, they faced a holocaust.

Fear and personal self-interest have become the hidden enemies, which is why Coin sees Katniss as humanity’s last hope. Katniss has celebrity status, but she’s also become a hero to the people because she used her intelligence and imagination to remain moral in a situation designed to strip her, and her competitors, of their humanity.

Katniss chose self-sacrifice over executing another, which makes her a Christ-like figure in this universe filled with references to everything from the Bible and ancient Rome to the Third Reich.

Mockingjay – Part 1 is akin to tracts of Matthew that show Jesus on his lonely walk through the desert, pondering his true purpose — only with way more eye candy.

Coin wants Katniss to be the face of the rebellion, knowing she can inspire the masses and lead them into the fight, but Katniss is reluctant. Her friend Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is being used as a PR pawn against her. Katniss has to decide whether to lead the rebels in a bloody revolution or bow down quietly and submit to an amoral power.

Such titanic themes can be awkward to steer through the narrow channels of Hollywood escapism, but director Francis Lawrence does a deft job driving this behemoth of a franchise because he lets his charismatic star show every trace of weakness, every moment of doubt and every shred of fear that makes Katniss such a compelling character.

Her humanity defines her heroism and sets her apart from the spectacle-obsessed status quo. She is real, and Lawrence makes us believe in her authenticity.

Mockingjay is by far the bleakest of the movies so far. Yet this first part of the last book in the Suzanne Collins series may also be the most potent. And it may be the most prescient, since it forces us to take a long, hard look at how fundamental belief systems are created, enforced and inflicted on individuals using the tricks and tools of mass media.

Katniss, in her catlike way, is a free thinker who has to find her own path. By watching her explore the outer edges of accepted thought, we learn to dial down the fear of change and each other so we may do the same.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/movie-review-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1-a-bleak-chapter-with-video/feed0Film Review The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1katherinemonkcanadacomFilm Review The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1Donald Sutherland: a Canadian with content (with video)http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/bob-in-saxo-donald-sutherland-a-canadian-with-content
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/bob-in-saxo-donald-sutherland-a-canadian-with-content#commentsThu, 20 Nov 2014 03:37:50 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=547945]]>Bits and bytes from esteemed actor Donald Sutherland, who is currently starring in Mockingjay — Part 1, in his recurring role as the nefarious President Snow:

Real life vs. reel life:

Sutherland’s convincing turn as the manipulative despot in The Hunger Games’ series, is in sharp contrast to the actor’s real-life left-leaning political activism. But he’s fine with that because there is an underlying purpose to his method of defining evil with a smile.

“I hoped that (The Hunger Games’ movies) would be the catalyst for young people to get them off the seat of their pants,” said the 79-year-old who was in New York promoting the series’ new instalment.

“We can use these films to generate some enthusiasm to take into the voting booths in the (U.S.) 2016 elections so politicians can be made responsible for their words and actions.”

Donald Sutherland returns in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as the manipulative despot President Snow.

Compliments for a co-star:

In Mockingjay — Part 1, Sutherland’s devious Snow uses the imprisoned and brainwashed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) as a propaganda weapon against Peeta’s friend Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and her revolution. Although, Sutherland didn’t have scenes opposite Lawrence in the latest production, he did previously, and he sings her praises.

“Jennifer has no tricks and no gimmicks,” Sutherland said. “She’s amazing.”Resistance proved futile:

Sutherland was initially invited to portray President Snow by The Hunger Games’ director Gary Ross, but the actor hesitated.

“My brain automatically looks at a script and tries to resist,” he said. “But it was clearly evident when I read the screenplay, how irresistible it was going to be.”

Indeed, Ross was so impressed with the impact of Sutherland’s Snow that the writer-director added more scenes (not in the novel) featuring Snow, which carried into Catching Fire and Mockingjay — Part 1.Previous distinguishing features:

The Canadian-born actor enjoyed his break out with a co-starring role in The Dirty Dozen and later MASH. He helped Jane Fonda win her best actress Oscar in Klute, and then he went on to win acclaim in comedies and dramas, in movies, on stage and TV over five decades.

NEW YORK — Josh Hutcherson couldn’t resist smiling when he was asked if his tears were real in a scene from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part I.

“The tears were real,” confirmed the 22-year-old. “Once you’re in that highly emotional state and you feel you’ve lost everything, and you’ve been brainwashed, it’s easy to bring your tears.”

In Mockingjay — Part 1, Hutcherson’s Peeta has been enslaved by the Capital and is being used as a propaganda tool against Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) while Gale (Liam Hemsworth) joins Katniss in the revolution.

As usual, the former child actor steps up when required. It wasn’t as simple as ABC, but here are the ABC’s of Hutcherson:

A: He was always after the power of the role not the glory of The Hunger Games franchise.

“The idea of having success was never in my mind,” said Hutcherson. “When Jen (Lawrence) said she was offered the role, she had to think about it, and what a change this would be. And then later for me it was, ‘My gawd, a big life change.’ “

B: He counted on his connection with Lawrence and Hemsworth when the Hunger Games fame got to him.

Hutcherson said: “We all grew up in this sort of craziness together, and it helps a lot with us maintaining our sanity more or less.”

C. He retained his personal and professional equilibrium.

Julianne Moore, who co-stars in Mockingjay — Part 1, confirmed the status. Moore worked with Hutcherson in the 2010 film, The Kids Are All Right.

“In my estimation and my experience (Josh) hasn’t changed at all,” said Moore. “He was a 16-year-old who was exceptionally articulate and talented, and had drive about the work.

“What was great for me was to see this person who has grown up considerably but whose personality and work ethic, and everything else, has remained intact.”

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 opens wide Nov. 21

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/hutcherson-tears-in-hunger-games-were-real-with-video/feed0Film Review The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1bbt1Jennifer Lawrence: an ordinary superstar (with video)http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/jennifer-lawrence-an-ordinary-superstar-with-video
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/jennifer-lawrence-an-ordinary-superstar-with-video#commentsWed, 19 Nov 2014 07:53:48 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=546830]]>NEW YORK — Jennifer Lawrence knows all about the good, the bad and the ugly of being famous.

The good comes from with The Hunger Games movies and the Oscar-honoured roles she’s enjoyed.

The bad is enduring the constant media exposure of her romantic relationships — most recently the break up with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. The ugly is coping with the emotional embarrassment of having her hacked naked pictures showing up online.

What’s a 24-year-old to do but put the yin and yang of it all in perspective and move forward?

“All in all, I get to do what I love and I know there is downside to every job,” says the spunky Lawrence, promoting the latest Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay — Part 1. “Does it ever get to be too much? Of course.”

The native of Kentucky shall overcome, as she proves playing Katniss in the latest dystopian adventure of the young adult and spiritual leader of a revolution.

In Mockingjay — Part 1, Katniss is joined by Gale (Liam Hemsworth) in an attempt to dismantle the Capital’s autocratic power. They also want to free an enslaved Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), whom the manipulative President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is using as a propaganda tool.

Jennifer Lawrence

The story is an obvious setup for the cinematic climax of Mockingjay — Part 2, set for theatres next November. Meanwhile, Mockingjay 1 has its own subtle challenges.

“There’s a lot less action in this movie,” Lawrence says. “Katniss is in a very different place emotionally … The Games have completely changed her. She has to totally rebuild herself.”

Besides the personality reconstruction, there is an underlying contradiction the actress needed to embrace that director Francis Lawrence stresses in the story.

“Katniss represents the consequences of war,” Lawrence says. “She knows that the Capital is a terrible government that’s only good for the elite one per cent.

“But she also knows that war is complicated and affects everyone on both sides. What we learn from her is there is no good way to start or end a war.”

Complicated stuff — but that’s exactly why Lawrence wanted to be involved in the film versions of the popular Suzanne Collins books.

Back then, Lawrence had already made a name for herself by winning a best actress Oscar nomination for her complex role in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, but she wasn’t handed the coveted Katniss part.

She earned the job with impressive auditions that underscored her determination and resilience, which she needed for the Mockingjay — Part 1 and 2 shoot, which lasted almost a year

Natalie Dormer, who plays Katniss colleague Cressida in Part 1, witnessed the perfect amalgamation of character and actress during the months of filming.

“Katniss doesn’t have any ego and neither does Jennifer,” Dormer says. “The reason (Lawrence) is so compelling to an audience is because she’s true to herself and doesn’t suffer the BS or superficial elements. She’s a great role model.”

That may have a great deal to do with Lawrence’s loyalty to those around her — the same management team from the beginning and lots of non-showbiz friends.

“I surround myself with people who tell me, ‘No,’” Lawrence says. “They know me. They love me. Something strange does happen when you become famous. It’s just the way people look at you, when inside you don’t feel any different.

“I surround myself with people who don’t look at me in an odd way. And they don’t give me that fake laugh. I hate when people chortle.”

The tears, however, were real when she finished Mockingjay 1 and 2.

“We shot two movies for 10 months and it was hard and exhausting,” Lawrence says. “There was a part of me that wanted to wrap to give my body a break. I had such conflicting emotions.”

Then there was her last scene as Katniss: “They called wrap and I just started sobbing.”

While Hutcherson ponders a question, Lawrence and Hemsworth are surreptitiously playing a game of hand-slap, Lawrence pulling her hand free just in time. When one of the guys says reflectively, “Maybe I was just an idiot,” Lawrence pipes up: “Yes, you ARE an idiot!” There are giggles, and a totally inside joke involving the phrase “My ears hurt,” spoken in baby voice. (Don’t ask.)

“I met my best friends in the world on this movie,” Lawrence says, turning serious, of Hutcherson and Hemsworth. “We love each other. They’re as close to me as my family, and in some ways they ARE my family.”

Lawrence, who plays Katniss Everdeen for the third time in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1,” opening Friday, is known for being a straight shooter — and not just with a bow and arrow. And so when she talks about her co-stars, it sounds refreshingly nothing like canned Hollywood-speak, in which everyone professes how it was SO great working with everyone else.

Cast members in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″ from left, Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson pose for a portrait in New York. (Photo by Drew Gurian/Invision/AP)

Instead, the 24-year-old Oscar winner explains how she, Hutcherson and Hemsworth (22 and 24 respectively) grew up together on set over the past several years — and became famous together, though Lawrence’s star has risen the fastest.

“We all have the actor thing in common where we left home very early — I left home when I was 14,” Lawrence says. “And our lives changed together in a way that nobody else in the whole world understands.”

In fact, she says, just the night before, the trio attended a dinner — exhausted — and sat for the first half entirely silent, like families sometimes do. “People were thinking, they must not really like each other,” she says. Chuckles Hutcherson: “Yeah, they’re thinking it’s all an act!” Adds Hemsworth: “You’ve got to be really close to not talk at all.”

Promoting the third film in the Suzanne Collins trilogy — filmmakers have split “Mockingjay” in two parts — has brought back familiar questions about parallels between the characters and the actors who play them. Katniss and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) are both thrust into dizzying fame in the first “Hunger Games” when they’re chosen to represent District 12 in the fight-to-the-death spectacle forced on them by the Capitol, ruled by shadowy President Snow (Donald Sutherland). In the third movie, along with Gale (Hemsworth), they each figure in different ways in the rebellion spreading through the country of Panem.

“I always get kind of nervous when people make parallels,” says Lawrence. “(Katniss) led a rebellion that changed the world, and I’m just an actor telling people I need more lipstick or whatever.”

She does, though, understand why people latch onto the “reluctant fame” idea, since she herself initially hesitated before accepting the role that catapulted her to global fame.

“We all had an idea of how big this was going to be, which is why I took a few days before I said yes, and really thought about what I wanted,” Lawrence says. “Saying yes to this was going to completely change my life.”

Hutcherson says he was oblivious. “I had to say I didn’t expect any of it,” he says of sudden stardom.

“You’re not as paranoid and neurotic as me,” Lawrence quips.

Lawrence, who has spoken bluntly and forcefully about privacy concerns, feels her co-stars need to be more security-conscious. “I recently changed my number and texted them, ‘Hi boys,’ and they answered back blah blah and didn’t even ask a security question!”‘ she says, in mock disapproval.

“Mockingjay,” directed by Francis Lawrence, brings back most of the starry supporting cast — Woody Harrelson, for example, as a rehabbed Haymitch Abernathy; Stanley Tucci as the flamboyant Caesar Flickerman; and Elizabeth Banks as the colorful Effie Trinket (with an expanded role, but alas a much less colorful revolutionary wardrobe). Also returning: Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died in February, as Plutarch.

“He was incredible,” says Lawrence. “It was so funny because we just don’t take anything seriously on set … and Phil was always so thrown by that. He said he’d never seen such a flippant set before.” Eventually, she says, “we broke him down, and forced him to be as unprofessional as us. ”

Each actor, asked their biggest takeaway from the “Hunger Games” experience, mentions the same things: Exposure, job opportunities, and especially friendship.

“Just having them in my life is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever been given,” Lawrence says.

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” Bob Dylan sang. But these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.

• MOVIES

Big Release on Nov. 21: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

Big Picture: Julianne Moore joins the franchise as District 13’s President Coin, who helps push Katniss into becoming the symbol of a growing rebellion against The Capital. (I’m hoping a couple of Ewoks make a franchise crossover to give the rebels a helping hand. They’re total pros when it comes to taking down evil empires.) Fans can expect the return of the dreamy Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth; Meanwhile, I can expect the return of daydreams involving Jennifer Lawrence falling in love with a humble journalist with zero survival instincts, while they’re being chased through the woods by murderous children, poisonous fog and killer bees … sigh). Part 1 of the finale hinges on Peta (Hutcherson) being turned into The Capital’s propaganda puppet, and Katniss’s (Lawrence) plan for his rescue. Can love — and a few choice crossbow arrows — save the day?

Forecast: Hollywood execs are starting to quiver in their fancy boots. The second-last Hunger Games, and still no true replacement young adult franchise in sight?! The original Hunger Games took the pain away from the end of Twilight (2012) and Harry Potter (2011). Despite countless film attempts with other novels, nothing has lived up to the colossal hype of these three mega series. My solution? Why not combine them? A “new” series about oppressed vampire child wizards, set in a dystopian future in which they’re annually forced to battle each other to the death on broomsticks in a domed Quidditch pitch – while simultaneously evading hormonal, shirtless werewolves. Ka-ching.

Katherine Heigl as Charleston Tucker in the new show State of Affairs.

• TV

Big Event: State of Affairs (Nov. 17, NBC/Global)

Big Picture: It’s an early Christmas miracle! Someone found a cast of actors actually willing to work with the notorious Katherine Heigl! The former TV star (Grey’s Anatomy) turned floundering movie star is slinking back to the small screen as a top-ranking CIA agent Charleston Tucker. She is tasked with providing the president (Alfre Woodard) a daily threat assessment — essentially a daily list of the greatest dangers facing the county, from terrorist threats to international crises. At night Tucker mainly has ill-advised, one-night stands to cope with the loss of her true love. (If Bill Clinton was still president, she could have accomplished all her objectives at the same meeting).

Forecast: Tucker’s fallen fiancé happened to also be the president’s son, and they are both bent on pay back against those who took his life. So this series’ is essentially Homeland meets West Wing meets Revenge (with a shade of Knocked Up). The only question is whether Heigl will get revenge on those critics who think that her career is flatlining.

The box set for The Art of McCartney, a celebration of the music of Paul McCartney, available November 18.

Forecast: I’m predicting a future Ringo Star tribute album by the likes of Miley Cyrus, Kesha, One Direction, Nickelback, Justin Bieber and Maroon 5. Miley would be all over Ringo’s 1973 single, Devil Woman. The cover art could even feature her twerking across Abbey Road.

Dishonourable Mention: One Direction (Four). I believe this album title refers to either average age — or IQ — of this groups’ fans. Then again, maybe I’m just jealous that I don’t have this band’s millions, three wildly successful concert movies under my belt, and adoring fans across the world. (Still, I would pay good money to see Harry Styles and company entered into the Hunger Games).

For moviegoers, the holidays mark the peak of the release schedule, when all the Oscar hopefuls are packaged in tinfoil and wrapped with a bow.

A walk through the multiplex is like being a kid in a candy store. So with an eye to making the best of your festive binge, here’s a guide to this year’s movie munchies. (Dates subject to change):

Trail Mix (for survivalists):

Hunger Games Mockingjay, Part 1 (Nov. 21): Jennifer Lawrence returns as feisty femme heroine Katniss Everdeen in this continuing saga of the people versus the power.

Salted Almonds (for highbrow grown-ups):

The Homesman (Nov. 21): Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in this frontier story that features Academy Award winner Hilary Swank playing a homesteader who accompanies three mentally ill women back to civilization. Starring in a revisionist western with a dark heart and some dramatic meat, Swank could easily find herself back on the awards circuit.

Penny Candy (cheap sweets):

Penguins of Madagascar (Nov. 26): Bringing a little swagger to the world of waddle, an intrepid group of flightless birds must stop an evil villain from destroying the world in this animated adventure from the Madagascar movie people.

Mixed Nuts (eclectic):

Foxcatcher (Nov. 28): Perhaps the strangest and eeriest thing about this story of a poor little rich man and his quest to coach a championship wrestling team isn’t the tragic truth of it all, but Steve Carell’s prosthetic nose. Capote director Bennett Miller grapples with various forms of obsession in this Oscar-ready outing starring Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and an unrecognizable Carell.

Reese Witherspoon stars in Jean-Marc Vallée’s film Wild.

Beef Jerky (real substance, minimal package):

Wild (Dec. 5): Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) adapts Cheryl Strayed bestseller to the big screen with Reese Witherspoon taking on the role of a woman on a long trek of self-discovery and forgiveness. This is one to gnaw on.

Pop Rocks (they tingle, you giggle):

Top Five (Dec. 12): It’s the comedian’s version of Birdman as a standup comic (Chris Rock) seeks redemption in the same breath as his reality-TV wedding. Adam Sandler and Rosario Dawson also star in this Rock-written script.

Jawbreaker (epic layers of candy coating):

Exodus: Gods and Kings (Dec. 12): Holy Moses! It seems Ridley Scott can do only science fiction or swords and sandals these days, so get ready for an uprising of biblical proportions as Christian Bale demands that Rhamses (Joel Edgerton) let his people go.

Tootsie Roll (fake taste, iconic product):

Inherent Vice (Dec. 12): Paul Thomas Anderson revisits the landscapes of Boogie Nights in this noir-sounding detective story set against the backdrop of 1970s Los Angeles. With Reese Witherspoon and Jena Malone playing the femmes and Owen Wilson, Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin playing fellas with names like Bigfoot Bjornsen and Doc Sportello, it sounds inherently compelling.

Peter Jackson is the director of The Hobbit.

Salted Toffee (it’s never done):

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Dec. 17): More sword swinging than a pirate-themed kids party. Peter Jackson’s new movie reboots the big dragon, Bilbo and five armies for battle.

Cracker Jack (look for the hidden prize):

The Imitation Game (Dec. 19): Put on your black bow tie and buckle up that Benedict Cumberbatch because this prestige offering is a period tale focused on Alan Turing, the cryptologist who broke the Axis Enigma code and paved the way for Allied victory during the Second World War — only to be vilified for being a homosexual. The British star teams with Scandinavian director Morten Tyldum, who gave us the brilliant, if dark, Headhunters.

Cinnamon hearts (sweet with zing):

Annie (Dec. 19): Oscar-nominated Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) plays the kid from the funny pages while Jamie Foxx plays a latter-day Daddy Warbucks in this live-action adaptation that does not appear to belt Tomorrow.

Hershey Bar (a classic):

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Dec. 19): The late Robin Williams plays Teddy Roosevelt one more time while Ben Stiller has the flashlight and his surprised look for another tour of the Museum of Natural History.

Licorice Allsorts (grown-up taste, lots of colour):

Mr. Turner (Dec. 19): Mike Leigh studies landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, known for his magical skies and luminous canvases that play with light.

Coffee Crisp (might be addictive):

The Gambler (Dec. 25): Mark Wahlberg and Jessica Lange pick up the leads in this movie about addiction and facing the consequences of one’s actions, especially the big boneheaded decisions that haunt you forever.

Pez (take the head off):

American Sniper (Dec. 25): Bradley Cooper’s face is splattered across several marquees this season, but it’s here, in Clint Eastwood’s latest, that Cooper will find a route to the red carpet as he plays a Navy SEAL with a record number of kills.

James Franco, left, and Seth Rogen star in The Interview. The comedy is set for release on Christmas Day.

Snickers (peanuts covered in Francocoa):

The Interview (Dec. 25): Two tabloid celebrity chasers (Seth Rogen, James Franco) discover Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is a fan of their sleazy show and attempt to secure an interview with the leader in a bid to make themselves look like legitimate journalists.

Pralines (Forrest Gump’s favoured sweets always pack a surprise):

Into the Woods (Dec. 25): We started the year with Angelina Jolie’s revision of a wicked witch in Maleficent, but Meryl Streep puts all the shards of evil back in their proper frame as she plays a witch who tinkers with the lives of archetypal characters, including Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), the baker’s wife (Emily Blunt) and the big bad wolf (Johnny Depp).

Turtles (a classy cluster):

Unbroken (Dec. 25): The title could very well describe the director, because this Second World War thriller about an Olympic runner who was shot down, marooned at sea and held in a prison camp was crafted under the guidance of working mom and showbiz survivor Angelina Jolie.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/hold-to-nov-12-holiday-preview-2014-movie-fans-will-be-kids-in-the-candy-store/feed0Into the WoodskatherinemonkcanadacomWildPeter JacksonThe InterviewVideo: Jennifer Lawrence at the ‘Mockingjay’ world premierehttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/video-mockingjay-premiere-543337
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/video-mockingjay-premiere-543337#commentsWed, 12 Nov 2014 16:00:48 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=543337]]>The highly-anticipated Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 had its world premiere in London on Tuesday, with fans turning Leicester Square into a sea of screaming fans.

“Would you ever get used to that?” Jennifer Lawrence said of the overwhelming fan reaction.

The 24-year-old, who shot to fame as the reluctant hero Katniss Everdeen, was joined on the red carpet by her co-stars Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark, and Liam Hemsworth, who plays Gale Hawthorn.

“The revolution has begun.” They are words that sing true to the zeitgeist, which is why The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will no doubt blow the doors off the box office when it opens with late screenings Thursday.

Not that there weren’t enough reasons to predict a history-making weekend.

Fans of the Suzanne Collins book series have been frothing at the bit to get a second taste of Katniss Everdeen’s heroism in the face of systemic oppression ever since the first movie’s tail credits scrolled off the screen two years ago.

Not only that, but lead actor Jennifer Lawrence is an even bigger star now than she was then, thanks to her Oscar-winning performance in Silver Linings Playbook. And if that weren’t enough to make it a lock on the chart, the first film dominated its competition and grossed more than $400 million.

The franchise could potentially rival Harry Potter’s receipts, so it’s definitely speaking to the masses at some level, and that level seems to be revolt.

Katniss Everdeen is cut from the same cloth as all the other historic martyrs, from Joan of Arc to Jesus Christ, in that she sacrifices herself for others — and in turn, changes the way people start to think about the established order.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

In the first episode, we watched as Katniss valiantly volunteered to take the place of her sister in the annual “reaping” — a lottery-like event where the unfortunate winner is forced to compete in a battle to the death called The Hunger Games.

Using her wits, excellent archery skills and another cunning dose of altruism, Katniss survived the Hunger Games. She also saved the life of her buddy from the District, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), proving the ancient barbaric tradition of sacrifice could reap hope as well as terror and intimidation.

For bearded dictator President Snow (Donald Sutherland), Katniss suddenly represents a significant threat to the system. She is the people’s hero. She has given them a sense of meaning and a growing sense of fight, which spells nothing but trouble for the fat cats dressed in silk suits and sporting shiny baubles.

She must be contained, and the only way to do that is to change the game once more. Despite every guarantee they would never have to fight again, Peeta and Katniss are thrown under the battle dome for a second time, this time against previous victors.

For director Francis Lawrence (Constantine), finding a way to merge such a sprawling plot with such a wide array of characters was clearly problematic because he couldn’t just sit back and use the competition as the centrepiece.

Granted, he had a diamond of a lead in Lawrence. But he also had to explore all the dynamics between the characters and their inherent emotional dimensions in order to make threat of death mean something, and give the movie a real edge of suspense.

Lynn Cohen as Mags, left, and Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair

He had to do all that without alienating fans, and in the space of a little more than two hours.

So thanks for making our Christmas merry, Mr. Lawrence. You pulled off a pretty tough task with this movie that captures the spirit of rebellion without lobbing bombs of anger.

Lawrence uses the emotions as his compass more than the specific needs of the narrative, which not only relieves the movie of its plot-heavy bow, it gives the actors a much broader canvas to work with.

The scenes feel longer. We get more angles showing facial expressions and reactions — and if you give great talent a chance to show what they can do, they bring something special to every second.

Lawrence lets us feel the strength building inside Katniss as she ditches the fear, as well as the swelling feminine maturity that comes with taking responsibility for her own actions. Young women could have no better role model, and yet she still feels completely human thanks to Lawrence’s solid presence.

Woody Harrelson doesn’t get quite as much screen time as Lawrence, but he makes the most of every shot as the hard-drinking mentor, as does Stanley Tucci in the role of reality show MC.

You can feel these veterans are having a blast under their wigs, and it gives the film a giddiness the dour first film lacked entirely. Even Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket gets a chance to loosen up a little.

The first movie felt a little stiff, as though the director were mechanically turning the pages, but this movie sinks into your skin because Lawrence immerses us in a pool of accepted injustice until we start to itch.

He makes us feel Katniss’s dilemma, then he links it with the larger elements in the frame, essentially creating a bonfire of drama with deep social undertones and sparks of subversive cinematic brilliance.

So does co-starring in the young adult sci-fi franchise poised to set records as the second in the series, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, opens Friday to a great deal of anticipation.

PHOTO: LionsgateCelebrated victors played by Josh Hutcherson, left, and Jennifer Lawrence are forced out of retirement and into a battle to the death in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

“It’s a fun thing to be involved in,” said Hutcherson with Hemsworth and Lawrence at a Beverly Hills hotel suite promoting Catching Fire.

In fact, their enthusiasm continues despite the fact that Hunger Games writer-director Gary Ross was replaced by Francis Lawrence, who is also shaping the third and fourth films, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2.

Certainly, the second post-apocalyptic movie based on the popular Suzanne Collins novels ups the stakes.

That occurs when celebrated victors from The Hunger Games past — including Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Hutcherson) — are forced out of retirement and into a battle to the death. This time it’s on an unforgiving quasi-island that turns out to be as threatening as the competitors.

The alleged reason for the all-star clash is to celebrate the 75th Hunger Games. The ulterior motive is to eliminate Katniss and her appeal to the masses as a rebellion in the districts gains momentum against the regime even while Katniss’s confidante Gale (Hemsworth) gets more involved in the protests.

PHOTO: LionsgateStanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, left, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen star in a scene from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Despite the new faces, the all-for-one attitude on the set remained the same, which the director appreciated from the beginning. So did Wright, an acclaimed stage actor who was thrilled to be a part of the socio-political adventure.

“I think of this as relevant escapism presented to young minds in an intelligent way,” he said of Catching Fire. “I had an opportunity to piggyback on the efforts of these young actors, and they let me.”

Hutcherson, 21, and Hemsworth, 23, don’t have an Oscar to their credit like 23-year-old Lawrence (for her role in Silver Linings Playbook), but they do have lots of acting experience.

Before moving from Australia to L.A. in 2009, Hemsworth followed his older brother Chris into the acting game as a teen. He won parts on Aussie TV shows, landing roles in Home and Away and McLeod’s Daughters and acclaim for his part as the paraplegic Josh on the soap Neighbours.

He famously lost out to his brother Chris for the role of Thor, but after making his U. S. studio debut in The Last Song with former girlfriend Miley Cyrus, things started working out for him in a Hunger Games kind of way.

Hemsworth co-starred with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Bruce Willis in The Expendables 2, and earlier this year he acted opposite two of his favourites — Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman — in the thriller Paranoia.

Hutcherson knew what he wanted to do by the age of nine, convincing his parents to move the family from his Kentucky home to L.A. so he could audition for roles.

It took a while but he carved out a niche with guest spots on TV shows and then in the kids’ sci-fi film Zathura and the comedy-drama Little Manhattan. Later, he made the transformation from adolescent to teen in 2010s R-rated, Oscar-honoured The Kids Are All Right before winning the Peeta part.

There’s no doubt Hutcherson and Hemsworth have immersed themselves in their successful careers without losing their perspective, just like their pal Lawrence.

And the three understood lots of extra effort would be required when it came to the challenges of Catching Fire.

The action is more intense and the relationship triangle goes through a period of adjustment as Peeta gets closer to Katniss through their shared experiences. That, in turn, makes Gale feel neglected.

PHOTO: LionsgateDonald Sutherland returns in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as the manipulative despot President Snow.

“Gale’s angry and frustrated when Katniss comes back,” said Hemsworth of her return home before the Catching Fire death match. “But he understands Peeta is trying to protect Katniss, and Peeta is the best chance for Katniss to survive.”

For his part, Hutcherson said he enjoyed the Catching Fire makeover of the formerly passive personality of his character.

“Peeta’s more angry in this movie,” he said. “He has bit of an edge to him, and the story expands on the relationships a lot more.”

Whatever the intensity on camera, Lawrence, Hemsworth and Hutcherson kept it light off camera during the shoot in and around Atlanta, Ga., and Hawaii.

They even managed a few jokes about a particularly gruesome sequence showing Hemsworth’s Gale being flogged in a village square.

“We had a good time — well, minus Liam,” said Lawrence, smiling at Hemsworth. “It was weird. I think he liked it at first.”

No, he corrected, he didn’t like it, even if the blows were mostly simulated.

“It does wear on you,” Hemsworth said, looking at Lawrence. “And everyone was strangely really happy during those few days of filming.”

How so? Lawrence earned an Oscar nomination for her role in Winter’s Bone after just a few years in the acting game. She followed the impressive breakthrough by landing the coveted part of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. If that wasn’t enough, she scooped up a supporting actress Oscar this year for her Silver Linings Playbook portrayal.

For those keeping track, she’s only 23 but always on the go. For instance, Lawrence returned to the Atlanta set of The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, immediately after the Academy Awards.

But the self-deprecating actress decided to leave her statue at home rather than pass it around the day after the award-winning night before. In fact, she wanted it to be just another 14 hours at the acting office, although the good-natured Kentuckian knew what was waiting for her.

“The Oscar actually made me a target,” said a smiling Lawrence promoting Catching Fire at a Beverly Hills Hotel.

Co-star Woody Harrelson was especially naughty during filming Catching Fire. “Every time I would mess up a line, Woody would say, ‘Oh, you better give that Oscar back.’”

Playful jokes aside, Lawrence focused on the challenge of finishing up the action-oriented sci-fi sequel.

In the latest post-apocalyptic adventure, victors from previous combat years — including Katniss (Lawrence) and friend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) — are forced out of retirement and into a battle to the death again as a distracting entertainment for the privileged class.

Jennifer Lawrence in a scene from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The object of the victors’ exercise is to celebrate the 75th Hunger Games, even as a grassroots rebellion against the autocracy gains momentum.

Returning to the fray is Donald Sutherland who portrays the conniving President Snow. Back, too, is Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’s confidante. Stanley Tucci shows up as the smarmy master of ceremonies Caesar Flickerman.

Just as flashy is Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket. Just as cool is Lenny Kravitz’s Cinna. Just as mischievous is the aforementioned Harrelson playing fight trainer Haymitch Abernathy.

Another key Catching Fire alteration had filmmaker Francis Lawrence replacing Hunger Games writer-director Gary Ross. But the general elements of the world remain the same.

So does the cautionary political theme exposing the negative impact on a society ruled by absolute power.

Indeed, Lawrence said that she’s proud of the fact The Hunger Games and Catching Fire movies emphasize the socio-political concerns showcased in Suzanne Collins’s best-selling books.

“I think we have this (Hunger Games) society — that we unfortunately experience in our lives — because some people feel entitled to certain things,” Lawrence said. “We have been completely desensitized and the media continues to feed you what you want.

“Catching Fire is an example of seeing what happens if it is allowed.”

In Catching Fire, citizens rise up against the regime: “And it’s a wonderful example for young adults — you don’t have to follow the feet in front of you.”

Jennifer Lawrence

Certainly, the Louisville native followed her own path. An ambitious teen, she made her show-business debut on an MTV show while working as a commercial model in New York.

A year later she moved to Los Angeles, and landed TV guest sports on Monk, Cold Case and Medium. There were film roles in The Poker House and The Burning Plain, which provided Lawrence with a prophetic best-young-performer award at the 2008 Venice Film Festival.

In 2010, her Winter’s Bone part as a determined Ozark teen, led to acclaim and the Oscar nomination, and helped get her a Katniss audition.

She also played Mystique in X-Men: First Class and will reprise her part in the much anticipated X-Men: Days of Future Past, set for a May release.

That’s even as Lawrence and company are filming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 and Part 2, set for release in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

‘There are so many wonderful things that come from having a voice’

Besides her appearance in Catching Fire this holiday season, the busy Lawrence also co-stars with Silver Linings Playbook buddy Bradley Cooper in David O. Russell’s American Hustle, featuring Amy Adams and Christian Bale.

“Getting back together with David was a no brainer,” said Lawrence of her Silver Livings Playbook director. “My character is amazing, and unlike anything that I’d ever done, so I did American Hustle instead of resting.”

She does pause, occasionally, to consider her status as a symbol for teens and young adults and how important that makes her as an example to others.

“There are so many wonderful things that come from having a voice,” Lawrence said. A meaningful side-effect of her celebrity has arrived in other ways, too.

“I remember being on The Hunger Games, and when you’re an actor you don’t ever think, or at least I hope you don’t think, that your job is really important,” said Lawrence.

One day, however, the actress met a teen extra who was covered in scars from a burn incident.

“I remember her coming up to me and telling me that she was too self-conscious to go to school,” said Lawrence.

The girl said after she read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, she felt proud of her scars and she felt brave enough to return to school where her friends started calling her the girl on fire.

“Afterward, I remember crying and calling my mom, and saying, ‘I kind of get it,’” said Lawrence. “And I still can’t tell the story without tearing up.”

The Hunger Games star and Epic’s animator Stewart Shaw speak about the rebellious Leafmen in the Canada.com exclusive clip from the upcoming DVD release. The animated film also stars such big names as Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz, Pitbull, Beyoncé Knowles.

According to scientific estimates, there are more than two million living creatures inhabiting every square metre of temperate rainforest, and every time you take a single step, you’re affecting the survival of 16,000 invertebrates.

Most of the life that surrounds us is invisible. Yet, we depend on these microscopic processes and tiny life forms in order to exist: From the bugs that boldly digest our daily detritus to the worms that make the soil breathe, every single creature has a specific role and purpose in maintaining the delicate balance of planetary life.

Our relationship to these life-sustaining organisms should be one of reverence and respect, but without a human voice — or for that matter cute, wide eyes and adorable expressions — we’re oblivious to their plight. We’re just too big. And they are far too small.

This large-small divide is the pit of children’s lit, and in Chris Wedge’s new movie Epic, the Ice Age director finds a way of animating all the slugs and worms and wee beasts that makes them accessible to the sugar-slurping masses.

Not only does he turn them into cartoons, he creates an alternate reality where these talking, walking, feeling invertebrates are part of a larger community — complete with teensy weensy humanoids called Leafmen.

The Leafmen are the defenders of the forest and they are dressed for the part, wearing suits of leafy armour and carrying swords. They ride hummingbirds and gallantly protect the forest from dreaded rot — the symptom of Boggan infestation.

Epic

The Boggans, conveniently, are the ugly enemies of the Leafmen — and they, too, are dressed for the part, sporting helmets crafted from bat skeletons and wearing cloaks made from rodent roadkill.

The war between the Leafmen and the Boggans has been raging since the beginning of time, but in the movie’s first breath, the Boggans appear to have the upper hand: They’ve kidnapped the heir to the forest throne, a tiny pod carrying the next princess of the forest.

If the pod blooms in darkness, it will give birth to a dark lord and heir to the Boggan kingdom. If it blooms in light, the forest will have a new protector and be able to regenerate itself, even after bouts of rot.

Wedge doesn’t need to get into the biological processes at work on a microscopic level because in this version of the biosphere, it all comes down to classic human motivation as the Boggan-versus-Leafmen conflict continues.

After all, it’s easier to relate to a tiny war between good guys and bad guys than a lethal pH imbalance, which is why these characters borrowed from William Joyce’s children’s books are so busy: They have to play out myriad invisible functions of the natural world.

It’s easier to relate to a tiny war between good guys and bad guys than a lethal pH imbalance.

For a young audience weaned on action movies and tween romance, it will all feel very familiar as we watch a young human woman named Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried) magically shrink to the size of an insect, and soon fall for a cute Leafman looking to prove his burgeoning manhood to alpha Leaf dude Ronin (Colin Farrell).

This latter-day Alice in Wonderland is a modern gal, however.

Her parents are divorced and her mum recently passed away, leaving Mary Katherine to hang out with her oddball dad in the woods. Her dad never paid much attention to her because he’s been focused on the minutia, and trying to prove the existence of these little humanoids to the scientific world.

Big, small, good, bad: It’s all here in a completely digestible package and thanks to Wedge’s smaller touches in the script that keep these wee heroes and villains from being flattened by the epic scale of the drama.

After all, all life as we know it is at risk in this movie and it’s only the oddball professor who understands how dire the situation really is — and nobody pays any attention to that bug-eyed alarmist.

Indeed, Wedge captures all the giant forces shaping the world and brings them down to size — with Christoph Waltz playing the ultimate villain, a Boggan looking to secure the future of his oily progeny.

Because the fairy-tale template is so palpable, we kind of know how the story is going to end before it actually does, but that doesn’t mean the drama doesn’t serve up some straightforward entertainment.

Thanks to some sweet vocal contributions from Seyfried and Farrell, as well as Chris O’Dowd, who alongside Pitbull brings magic to his slimy-but-noble character, the movie finds great comic touches that will keep the grown-ups amused and the kids rapt.

Another wonderful addition is the family dog: A three-legged pug with cataracts.

Come on: With this much fur-wrapped pathos, the whole kid-movie equation isn’t just complete, it hits an epic scale by making us see the largesse of the very small.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/movie-review-epic-2/feed0EPIC - FILM REVIEWkatherinemonkcanadacomEpic - Film ReviewChris Wedge has an Epic story to tellhttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/chris-wedge-has-an-epic-story-to-tell
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/chris-wedge-has-an-epic-story-to-tell#commentsTue, 21 May 2013 15:38:19 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=251641]]>By Hollywood standards, Chris Wedge should be a sought-after visionary.

In 2002, Wedge’s Ice Age cartoon introduced the lucrative animated motion picture franchise by scoring an impressive $383.3 million at the worldwide box office.

That led to his transition from director to executive producer on three subsequent Ice Age films, which have pulled in nearly $3 billion theatrically.

So you would think that the filmmaker would get a quick “yes” for anything he wanted to do; but not so fast.

His latest, Epic, turned out to be an appropriate title in more ways than the theme. It took Wedge eight frustrating years to get his 3D animated fantasy onto the big screen.

“I would have done Epic sooner but I had trouble getting a green light,” confirmed the 56-year-old at a Toronto hotel. “It did take me a while to get the story right, but it took me longer to convince people this would be the right thing to do.”

Opening on May 24, the movie seems made to order for kids of all ages with its combination of action and adventure, which sometimes references Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz along the way.

In the animation, a rebellious teen, Mary Katherine a.k.a. M.K. (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) is inadvertently transported into a miniature forest world in which Leafmen, the guardians of the woods, are confronting evil nature destroyers called Boggans who are led by the reprehensible Mandrake (Christoph Waltz).

The shrunken M.K. becomes embroiled in a battle to save the woods from decimation even as she realizes her professor father (Jason Sudeikis) was right about his odd theory that minuscule beings protect the forest.

Comic relief is provided by Mub (Aziz Ansari), a slug with eyes for M.K. Grub (Chris O’Dowd) is a snail who yearns to be part of the Leafmen brigade.

“I have to say, as I have been watching the finished film a lot, I do get a whiff of The Wizard of Oz,” admitted Wedge. “And there’s a little bit of The Adventures of Robin Hood and maybe some Lord of the Rings set in the forest behind your house.”

The essence of the animation is intended to be original, however.

“I did want to put a unique stamp on Epic,” said the director. “I didn’t want audiences to think of this as just an animation makeover for kids. I mean when I was a kid I wanted to watch things that adults wanted to watch, because I think that kids aspire to be older.”

Another key development in the Epic story was re-defining M.K. and the professor as a disconnected daughter and dad, whose relationship had become strained over years of neglect. “And what adolescent daughter doesn’t think their father is a little weird and a little crazy?”

“I did want to put a unique stamp on Epic. I didn’t want audiences to think of this as just an animation makeover for kids.”

As the story was massaged, the Leafmen became more complex, as well.

“I decided I wanted to imply that these Leafmen are from all over the forest, and they are in different shapes and sizes and colours, and that they are male and female,” Wedge said.

He was also creatively motivated to make another adjustment with Farrell’s approach after their first recording sessions.

The Irish actor was doing his usual version of an American accent for the Ronin character, but during a break early in the process, Wedge said he was impressed with Farrell’s casual easygoing Irish-laced banter with his assistant.

“I chose Colin for his voice talent, and he just assumed we wanted American, so that’s what he did for a while,” the director said. “We ended up using his normal voice because he’s just so much more charming.”

The inspiration for Epic was charming, too, despite the long and involved pre-production.

It began after the 2002 release of Ice Age and just before Wedge’s second animated feature Robots in 2005.

That’s when Wedge and his friend and colleague William Joyce attended an art exhibition together. It showcased paintings which depicted magical notions of living things in bushes and trees. And they became hooked on the premise.

Joyce went on to write the book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, and then served as Epic’s co-writer, executive producer and production designer when they decided to make the film.

They had already established a great working relationship; Joyce was Wedge’s producer and production designer on Robots (and is best known for the TV shows based on his books George Shrinks and Rolie Polie Olie).

“Joyce is a great friend and I’ve always admired his imagination,” said Wedge.

Their collaboration certainly made the difficult process of getting Epic into theatres a little bit easier to take. The fact that Blue Sky Studios is handling Epic provided some vindication, too.

“It’s the company I helped start 25 years ago,” said Wedge of Blue Sky. “But I am not trying to claim a victory or prove myself again. At my age, I just want to work.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/chris-wedge-has-an-epic-story-to-tell/feed0Chris Wedgebbt1EpicNew on DVD: Week of March 5http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/new-on-dvd-week-of-march-5
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/new-on-dvd-week-of-march-5#commentsTue, 05 Mar 2013 07:03:05 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=206757]]>The Master: Four stars out of five

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to the Everyman soldier certainly wasn’t the easiest film to love. In fact, Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of former sailor and certifiable screw-up Freddie Quell was downright disturbing. Yet, there was something mysterious and beautiful looming beneath the frames of this Scientology-inspired story.

Anderson scratches at our inherent divinity, while at the same time drowning us in our innate need for escapism via lust, drugs, alcohol and simplified decryptions of the existential condition.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant as the self-indulgent and entirely narcissistic spiritual leader who attempts to save Freddie with his mystic spiel. And Phoenix proves the perfect foil as a man who cannot overcome his self-loathing and substance addiction, no matter how much tough love he receives from his surrogate “father.”

With Amy Adams playing the exasperated wife — and the only pragmatic soul in the picture — Anderson creates an entire universe through three characters. We may not have any idea what the bigger picture means, but then again, that only makes it a more accurate take on facing the banal chaos of everyday existence.

It could have been a very unpleasant ride, but thanks to the stunning cinematography from Mihai Malaimare Jr., we achieve safe, voyeuristic distance to the denouement.

Special features include Let There Be Light, John Huston’s 1946 documentary about the men who served in the Second World War and their attempt to re-integrate into postwar society, outtakes, deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage and more.

Wreck-It Ralph: Three and a half stars out of five

There are a whole lot of cute moments in this Disney animated effort about a video game villain who longs to be a hero, but there isn’t enough screen magic to overcome a jaded sense of deja-vu.

John C. Reilly is highly sympathetic as he voices Ralph, a force of destruction who tries to keep Fix-It Felix from maintaining his brick apartment building. When he realizes he’s doomed by his own code string, he attempts to jump out of his own game — with dire consequences.

While this could be read as a social metaphor about revolting against the status quo, the movie can’t go any deeper than one-liners and adult-oriented allusions to pop psychology and support groups. Not even Sarah Silverman is capable of getting past the plastic script and injecting some real blood into this highly attractive, and frequently entertaining piece of fluff.

Special features include the Oscar-winning short Paperman, Bit By Bit featurette on the making-of, alternate and deleted scenes, video game commercials, Disney intermission and more.

The Intouchables: Three and a half stars out of five

Though edged out of the Academy Awards by Amour, this French film about a man in a wheelchair and his problematic care attendant was easily one of the year’s feel-good films. Phrased more like a romantic comedy than a buddy-bonding spectacle, the film begins with the two men hating one another, but gradually turns around as they share their vulnerabilities and deepest thoughts over montage-friendly scenes such as paragliding to ’70s soul music and long walks on the beach.

Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy play the two central characters with such joy and grit, it’s hard to resist their awkward male dynamic, even when the movie feels dangerously close to treacle. Special features include deleted scenes and more.

Red Dawn: Three stars out of five

We saw a lot of movies about alien invasions in the wake of the Cold War, but this movie doesn’t feel any obligation to veil the threat in an extraterrestrial carapace. Red Dawn is a movie about an invasion by something truly old-fashioned: Commies!

North Korea — with the tacit aid of Russia and China — goes on the offensive in the good old U. S. A, forcing a ragtag group of kids lead by Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson to stand up to the enemy using nothing but their wits and the odd assault rifle.

It looks like any other piece of Cold War fearmongering, but in the wake of America’s occupation of Iran and Afghanistan, Red Dawn assumes a slightly different dimension as young blue-eyed kids suddenly become “insurgents” and “terrorists” against the oppressing regime.

Slightly more than you bargained for, Red Dawn offers a fascinating film study in the big screen treatment of the terrorist versus freedom-fighter phenomenon. Special features include Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and more.

Collaborator: Three stars out of five

Though self-aware, and at times a little stagy, actor-turned-director Martin Donovan turns in a pretty compelling motion picture about two men who grew up together, and eventually grew worlds apart.

With Donovan taking on the role of a failing writer looking for another hit and David Morse embodying the spirit of a self-loathing failure who owns a gun, the movie unfolds like a slow mental striptease as the two male characters sitting centre-frame slowly expose their inner truth.

An intellectual exercise in psychological suspense as well as manly ritual, Donovan’s film successfully denudes the layers of denial that stop us from reaching our dreams. It’s also dryly funny and beautifully performed, proving you can make a dramatic dent with limited means and a low budget. Special features include digital transfer and more.

Schindler’s List: 20th Anniversary Edition: Four stars out of five

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since Steven Spielberg had his big Oscar night? Winner of best picture and best director honours in 1994 (though the film was released in 1993), this story based on Oskar Schindler’s attempt to save Jews through employment featured Liam Neeson as the accidental saviour and Ralph Fiennes as the relentless SS officer eager to prove him a traitor to the Fatherland.

These two performances are so innately elegant in their emotional minimalism that Spielberg doesn’t even have to use strings and symphonies to articulate the desperation of war, but he still does — which is about the only downside to this ambitious and somewhat sentimental look at the horrors of the Holocaust.

This new anniversary edition features new extras, including a documentary from the University of California, Santa Cruz Shoah Foundation as well as a Spielberg-hosted featurette and iWitness information segment.

Also released March 5:

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Dalziel and Pascoe

Easter Bunny Puppy

Hidden

The Marine 3

Mayo Clinic Diet

Murdoch Mysteries Season 5

NFL Super Bowl XLVII Champions: Baltimore Ravens

The Nativity Story

Norman Wisdom 4

Ocean Giants

Once Bitten

Power Rangers: Clash of the Red Rangers Movie

Seven Year Hitch

Sofia the First

Unconditional

Westworld

WWE 2013: Bret (Hitman) Hart: The Dungeon Collection

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/new-on-dvd-week-of-march-5/feed0The MasterkatherinemonkcanadacomHunger Games: Catching Fire (Sneak-peek photos plus pictures of the cast)http://o.canada.com/photos/hunger-games-catching-fire-meet-the-cast
http://o.canada.com/photos/hunger-games-catching-fire-meet-the-cast#commentsWed, 08 Aug 2012 20:20:08 +0000http://o.canada.com/?post_type=photo_gallery&p=89001]]>]]>http://o.canada.com/photos/hunger-games-catching-fire-meet-the-cast/feed0leahdoseJosh Hutcherson, Luke Bracey and other reasons Selena Gomez is having plenty of fun without Justin Bieberhttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/josh-hutcherson-luke-bracey-and-other-reasons-selena-gomez-is-having-plenty-of-fun-without-justin-bieber
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/josh-hutcherson-luke-bracey-and-other-reasons-selena-gomez-is-having-plenty-of-fun-without-justin-bieber#commentsThu, 17 Jan 2013 18:19:07 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=184008]]>Selena Gomez was all over the Golden Globes party circuit last Sunday — at CAA’s bash, at The Weinstein co. after party, at the InStyle event. And if you’d been the one to score an invite, nothing would have kept YOU from having the best-est time anyone could imagineer. Just think of the stars! The free Moet! The shrimp buffets, probably! There’s a reason why the Golden Globes are known as the show where someone is most likely to get locked in a ladies room. (Hi, Christine Lahti!) And that reason is fun.

Enough fun that you wouldn’t need to drag Justin Bieber along for entertainment, I don’t care how many copies of Believe you bought. And please note, for the bajillionth time, that Bieber and Gomez are “over.” Gomez was even overheard talking about the split during one Golden Globes party. (Us Weekly was the eavesdropper in question; they heard her whispering “it was awful,” while talking about her and Bieber’s last reported break-up in Mexico.)

But all that awfulness is behind her now, like so many episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place. And as such, let us count the ways in which Gomez is doing just fine without Bieber.

1. She partied at the Golden Globes.

In case you didn’t already get the point, this would be awesome.

2. All of her lady-friends were there!

Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Sarah Hyland (and her hives) were glued to Gomez all night, it seems. Either Disney is launching a new girl group, or friendship is alive and well. (Also, Spring Breakers is coming to theatres soon. There’s a trailer now and everything.)

3. Josh Hutcherson was there, too!

And since Gomez and the Hunger Games star were seen dancing together throughout the night — and since Celebuzz caught them leaving the Beverly Hilton Hotel “arm-in-arm” — Hollywood Life reported that the duo totally hooked up…until Gossip Cop declared the story “completely false.” True or not, consider it a wacky tale these two kids can LOLz about on the Twitters next time they have a project to pimp. File under fun.

4. Don’t forget Luke Bracey! He was there, too!

Wait, who? Oh, sure. That Australian guy from Gomez’s Monte Carlo movie, the one who hooks up with Leighton Meester’s character. (Spoiler?) Us Weekly saw Gomez getting “super close” and holding hands with her 23-year-old former co-star, so maybe they’re dating! Maybe they’re friends! Hook-up rumours are fun! (At least to us.)

5. Hmmm, Barbara Palvin was hanging around the Golden Globes scene, as well.

But it was totally cool! At least according to Hollywood Life. Gomez and Palvin were both at the InStyle after-party. They talked, they posed for photos, they posed for duckface photos. Maybe we can finally forget all the gossip about how the Victoria’s Secret model is the Anti-Jelena. If so, fun!

6. This video from a Golden Globes red carpet.

If we can put aside U.S. liquor laws for a moment (Gomez is 20) — and really, maybe she’s just tuckered out from all the fun-times — you know what’s really fun? A starlet who’s game for mumbling riddles about Jennifer Lawrence on camera for the greater good. That greater good being a viral video we can all enjoy. Thanks! The girl’s going to make it, after all.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/josh-hutcherson-luke-bracey-and-other-reasons-selena-gomez-is-having-plenty-of-fun-without-justin-bieber/feed1Josh Hutcherson, Selena Gomez and Sarah Hyland at the Golden Globes. They are the superfriends.leahdoseEarly buzz: Lindsay Lohan, American Idol feud, One Direction and morehttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/early-buzz-lindsay-lohan-american-idol-feud-one-direction-and-more
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/early-buzz-lindsay-lohan-american-idol-feud-one-direction-and-more#commentsTue, 27 Nov 2012 05:01:19 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=157449]]>Lindsay Lohan is sad that everyone had so much fun making a drinking game out of Liz & Dick. (It’s less clear how she’s feeling about its “disappointing ratings.”)

But there’s hope, LiLo! Variety reports that there will be a sequel to her (other) made-for-TV movie, Life Size — a.k.a. that crazy Disney flick where crazy Tyra Banks acts crazier than usual as a crazy Barbie Doll who’s brought to crazy life. Banks is on board. Could there be a role for Lohan? SHINE BRIGHT, LILO! BE A STAR!

Any Peeta-files out there? The Hunger Games‘ Josh Hutcherson did an interview with MTV about upcoming sequel Catching Fire. Here’s what he had to say about filming the scene where Peeta proposes to Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence): “Actually, the very first time I went to get down on one knee my pants ripped right down the crotch. The worst thing that could happen when you’re proposing to somebody is that your pants rip right down the crotch, and that’s what happened to Peeta. So… he’s doomed. He’s doomed. Poor guy, he just can’t catch a break.”

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Why did Carly Rae Jepsen scrap this video for “Curiosity?” (Was she afraid it’d out her as a huge Being Erica fan?)

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There’s a new preview of 50 Cent‘s “My Life,” his music video with Eminem and The Voice’s Adam Levine.

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“Dirty Love” is what happens when you let Ke$ha and Iggy Pop record together. (And if you like what you hear, you can preview Warrior, Ke$ha’s new album, on iTunes.)

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Brad Pitt forgot to be thankful for being an internationally famous superstar because he was shooting a movie in London last weekend, where they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.

Downton Abbey will get a fourth season, but according to reports, Dan “Matthew Crawley” Stevens has yet to sign on. Is this the end of Matthew and Mary? (Will this give the Dowager Countess more screentime?!)

They’ve remade the 1984 movie Red Dawn, a Cold War fantasy about a group of American teenagers who fight to save their hometown from a Soviet invasion. Of course, that premise was a little unrealistic, so in the new film the teenagers fight to save their town from a North Korean invasion. However — for old time’s sake, plus the screenplay’s tacit assumption that North Korea couldn’t find its own butt with two hands — they have Russian advisers.

Otherwise, we’re back in middle America (Spokane, Wash., this time) where the members of the local high school football team, the Wolverines, awake one morning to find enemy airplanes strafing suburban streets and parachutes blooming like a survivalist wet dream in the sky. The bad guys are here! At last!

This befuddles Matt Eckert (Josh Peck), the talented but selfish Wolverines quarterback who will, one imagines, have to learn some lessons about teamwork if he is going to vanquish anyone, even North Korea. Happily, his big brother Jed (Chris Hemsworth), a U.S. Marine, is in town on leave and — as someone reminds us later — “a marine and his rifle. That’s the baddest (poop)-kickin’ weapon in the world,” although I don’t know how much consideration they’ve given to the (poop)-kickin’ possibilities of a Hollywood screenwriter with a big budget and an agenda of paranoid patriotism.

Matt, Jed and more Wolverines high-tail it to the Eckert cabin in the woods to organize a guerrilla force that will overcome the exotic new enemy. It was China in the original script until the realpolitik of trade and film distribution got in the way — the movie was shot in 2009 but its release was delayed and China has become a major economic force.

However, North Korea is handy because it has no oil or strategic value, nor does it have much of a movie market. It can, however, unleash an electromagnetic pulse to disable all our computers and bring us to our weakling knees. Thank goodness for the Wolverines, who stand on burned-out buildings shouting their slogan (“Wolverines!”) with the fervour of demented cheerleaders.

Meanwhile, though, there are family wounds to heal, the Eckerts being motherless children who are soon to lose dad to the casual atrocities of Captain Lo, which is a good name for him.

Plus, there are the burgeoning romances, mostly between Matt and Erica (Isabel Lucas), his blond pillow-lipped girlfriend who has been captured by the Koreans and is being held in — ironically — the old football stadium. He must rescue her, even if it endangers his commitment to team play. Her lips alone are worth several lives.

However, there’s little time for lovey-dovey stuff. Jed has to teach everyone to be a resistance fighter — it takes about 10 minutes before the bewildered adolescents evolve into a combination of Minutemen and Rambo — and then they have to arm themselves.

Fortunately there’s no shortage of automatic weapons in and around Spokane, Wash. They’re kind of crappy, but they’re good enough to ambush the enemy and steal their good, North Korean ones.

The fun in Red Dawn is in trying to decipher the political subtext. For instance, Jed — a man who realizes the truth in the old expression, “Never get involved in a land war in the Pacific Northwest” — creates his heroic guerrilla force while acknowledging that this is the opposite of what has happened in recent American history. This time the terrorists are the good guys, and he admits he has learned lessons from the Viet Cong and the mujahedeen.

The result is America as the feisty underdog. “For them, this is just a place, but for us, this is home,” he says, as the Wolverines ambush the enemy in battles staged by director Dan Bradley with more gung-ho spirit than coherence. By the end, we appreciate the wisdom of the character who says, “Dude, we’re living Call of Duty. And it sucks.” That’s a big 10-4, soldier.

The Kentucky native was so impressed with the bright lights and the big city, she decided then and there, it was a performer’s life for her.

“I remember my mom was laughing at me because I was like, 14, and wearing my brand new Forever 21 heeled boots,” says the Oscar-nominated actress. “I like stormed the sidewalks as if I knew exactly where I was going.”

It turned out, she did. Modelling jobs followed, including “a sweet sixteen” promo on MTV. A Winter’s Bone Oscar nomination established her, and now she’s The Hunger Games headliner in a very lucrative franchise that will elevate her paydays into the millions.

She’s doing her best to keep things in perspective, even as she settles into her Los Angeles digs.

“It’s just hard to find good, like, normal, nice people, like a good group, but I finally have done that,” Lawrence says. “I call L. A. home, based on the people I know here, who have become my friends.”

Twilight’s time has come and gone it seems. The Hunger Games, opening on March 23, is poised to pass that franchise in a dramatic money way.

The new sci-fi flick is expected to receive positive reviews and set box-office records on its opening weekend.

It’s almost guaranteed to pass The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’s opening take of $138.1 million US. And now indications are that the new teen cinema sensation is on track to pass Twilight’s New Moon haul of $142.8 million.

Besides high-profile premieres (including one in Toronto Monday night), the film version of Suzanne Collins’ incredibly popular novel is getting lots of glitzy promotions at major malls of America.

The trio of Hunger Games young stars – Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth – seem to be connecting in a very positive way, as well.

Harry Potter fans should not fret about no. 1 status, however. After the Hunger Games weekend, top spot for an opening will still belong to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 which waved its magic wand to conjure up $169.2 million. Solidly in second is The Dark Knight at $158.4 million followed by Spider-Man 3’s $151.1 million.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/hunger-games-versus-twilight-no-contest/feed0120320_TwilightHungerbbt1Kentuckian in Jennifer Lawrence has Hunger Games advantageshttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/kentuckian-in-jennifer-lawrence-has-hunger-games-advantages
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/kentuckian-in-jennifer-lawrence-has-hunger-games-advantages#commentsThu, 15 Mar 2012 18:22:58 +0000http://blogs.canada.com/?p=39206]]>You can take Jennifer Lawrence out of Louisville, but she’ll always be an outdoorsy Kentuckian at heart. That fact came in handy portraying the rough-and-ready Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, which arrives in theatres on March 23.

As most fans of the Suzanne Collins’ sci-fi novel know, Katniss faces off in a televised fight-to-the-death battle with other young tributes in a woods.

While the 21-year-old lives in L. A. now, she said memories from her ol’ Kentucky home helped her in filming the action sequences in the forested area outside of Asheville, N. C.

“I didn’t imagine my childhood to be any different than anyone else,” said Lawrence. But just before filming The Hunger Games, she remembered talking to one of her buddies who grew up in an L. A. suburb.

“And I was like, ‘You never had any woods, and you never dug a hole, saw a snake, or climbed a tree?'”

When her friend explained that they had the beach, “I was like, well where did you fall out of trees? Where did you build your forts?”

Turns out Lawrence did all of that as a kid. “For a long time I had been saying my Kentucky upbringing has nothing to do with my characters,” says Lawrence. Her Katniss role changed her mind.

And speaking of Kentucky, her Hunger Games co-star Josh Hutcherson grew up just down the road from her in Union, Kentucky. So they have a lot in common, and continue to be friends after The Hunger Games experience.

“But I still call him a redneck,” joked Lawrence. Why? “Because he’s a bigger hick than I am, and that’s just a fact.”

Josh Hutcherson isn’t exactly a strapping lad. At five-foot-seven, he’s diminutive by most he-man standards. That’s why many of the Hunger Games fanatics decided he wouldn’t do justice to the Peeta part in the much anticipated film version of Suzanne Collins young adult sci-fi novel.

Naysayers can make up their minds when the film opens March 23, but Hutcherson said that he is pleased with is portrayal – he put on lots of muscle. He’s also thrilled to report that Collins approved of his casting right from the start.

“I don’t read a lot of stuff,’’ he said of the online bickering about his landing the role. “It’s not that I have this ‘screw them’ mentality, but I do know that fans of the Hunger Games books are across the globe. Everyone will have their own opinion, because it’s such a beloved book.”

Still, Hutcherson would like fans to know this. Director Gary Ross was hired by the studio “because he had a united vision with the author. And she said that what we’re doing is great with her. Her OK gave me the major vote of confidence that I really needed.’’